Dodge auto tranny question

Possibly going to look at a 2001 Dodge. 360 v8 with auto tranny. I am told the transmission has slipped for about a year. If you put it in neutral first before putting it in reverse or drive, it goes fine. Sounds to me like it isn't building enough line pressure, but I don't know a whole lot about auto trannys. He still pulls a trailer with it but only a few steers to the local sale barn a couple times a year, so no long distance travels. I don't know how often it is serviced or if there is a tranny fluid cooler. Any ideas on what the issue might be?

just sold mine-01, 360 4x4 85k after installing a new tranny. learned all about the factory cooling in the radiator. they replace all radiators during tranny rebuilds. First thing i would do is bypass radiator cooling and install an aux cooler. seems the factory cooler has little fins that catch gunk and release it at the most inopertune times. overheating the motor is a death notice to the tranny!

If you want to get fancy, you could put in a heat exchanger out of a diesel. They really pull a lot of heat out of the transmission. One of the guys on the DTRF pulled his out, thinking the transmission would run cooler. It was the only mod he made between two road trips pulling a camper, and he couldn't hardly stay in D without overheating it. And he forgot about towing in OD.

Overheating the motor might put more heat into the transmission, but for the other 99.8% of the time, it will cool it.

Additional cooler is the best thing anyone can do for an automatic transmission. Especially one that tows or hauls loads regular or long distances. I have auxiliary coolers on both my trucks. I also use synthetic fluid every 30,000 miles with a WIX filter change.

Thank you for the offer, but I think this one will hold up for a little while. I drove the truck home 30-40 miles and didn't seem to have any problems. I'm hoping I can get around to changing the fluid and filter this weekend, and go from there.

I'd turn up the line pressure while I was in there, too. Clamp the clutches up a little tighter. If you don't know how old the fluid is, wait two weeks and change it again, you only get about half the fluid on a drain and fill.

If it doesn't have an auxilary trans cooler, put one in, too. Heat kills these things. The biggest one you can find.

Yes, especially if you are going to make it earn its way. There is plenty of room behind the grill for one, and for all the more they cost, they are cheap insurance. The factory tow package included both an auxiliary trans cooler and a power steering cooler. Don't bypass the one in the radiator.

The 89-93 Cummins trucks actually had an optional cooler that mounted under the bed with an electric fan.

Sorry, Allan, it is on a Dodge. It says to check it HOT, idling in Neutral. That way the fluid gets pumped back into all the places it drains out of while it's sitting. If you just fill it to full, fire it up, and take off, you will be running two quarts or so low.

When you have the pan off, take a look along the driver's side of the valve body. I don't know if they changed it with the electronic governor, but on the hydraulic governed transmissions, all you need is a 3/16 Allen wrench to turn up the line pressure. If you find a screw where the wrench is in this picture,http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r309/DZL_Damon/89%20D250/IMG_2488.jpg

and give it two swings CCW, wrench toward the back of the truck. That turns up the line pressure.

Like I said, I don't know if the procedure is the same for the RE transmission you'd be getting, as the RH transmissions in the earlier trucks. Here is the whole thread on doing the trans adjustments on an RH transmission.http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/adjust-your-bands-shift-points-and-line-t265745.html

That's interesting, and thanks for the tip and the photos. I'm going to hopefully drop the pan this weekend. Did dodge have differant shaped pans on their trannys that make them easier to identify just by looking at them, like the Chevy transmissions? I'd like to know for sure which model tranny the truck has for sure.

Yes, all 3 and 4 speed RWD MOPAR tranmissions use the same filter, and one of two pans. The 727 and A518 and later 47/48 RE/RH tansmissions use one pan, while the 904, A500, and 46RE/RH use another. Which is which, I'm not sure. In 01, I think it would have the 47RE, the heavier one based off the 727. RE means it is electronicaly governed. RH means it is hydraulically governed. 4 means it's a 4 speed, and the 6,7,or 8 is a relative number for torque capacity. The 4 speeds are a 3 speed with an OD unit bolted onto the back. Which could have easily made the RE models a 6 speed, had they been thinking ahead when they engineered the OD unit.

Here is an article for the transmission you have. The band procedure is the same.http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/faq/faq.php?display=faq&nr=24&catnr=7&prog=1&lang=en&onlynewfaq=1

Thanks again for the helpful tips and info, and info on the coolers. Truck still has the window sticker which states the truck came with the 46RE transmission and the factory tow package. Nice to know what the truck is equipped with.

If it has the factory tow package, it should have a plug under the dash for the brake controller, and the brake wiring should be run to the 7-way RV plug in back. It should have the auxiliary cooler in it already, also. Look for an oil cooler in with the radiator and AC condenser, if it has AC, to verify.

When you get your filter it'll come with both gaskets. Just use the one that fits your pan.

Allan, I understood the first thing you said and the last, but the stuff in the middle... you just as well be explaining physics to a monkey. To be honest, I don't think you're far off. HAHA Thanks for your help.

As the others have stated,it's converter drain back. It can be cured with the addition of a shift improver kit. The kit ups the line pressures, takes care of the drain back problem, and flows more fluid when sitting in gear. Have a tranny shop install it, change the fluid ,the filter,and adjust the bands. A flush on a chrysler tranny will usually do more harm than good. Chrysler uses a very fine filter and it will easily clog. The flush loosens up all the gunk and won't get the filter clean. Routine maintenance is a fluid/filter change and band adjustment every 25,000 miles normal driving, and at 12,000 miles if used for towing,or off road use. I've got over 300,000 on the original tranny behind a cummins in my 95.

I'm guessing it only does it when it sits over night or for a long period of time.

I'm thinking I'll just change the fluid and filter and see how things go with that. 15,000 miles seems like a short interval for tranny fluid but since it's a Dodge tranny, probably better safe than sorry.

Thanks for the help guys. Went and looked at the truck today. It runs great and after putting it in neutral before going into gear it shifts fine and goes down the road well. Talked to the shop I take my vehicles to and sounds like a fairly common problem with these Dodge trannys and it shouldn't be a major issue. I'll be finalizing the paper work this next week. Next question... should I get it flushed or just change the tranny fluid and filter? My shop told me flushing the tranny probably won't fix the issue but it wouldn't hurt to flush it, since it has 86,000 miles. I've heard both good and bad on flushing a tranny.

Check the fluid with the tranny warmed up, the truck in Neutral, engine running.

An employee was checking the fluid with the truck running and in park. 4 quarts of tranny fluid and it has been shifting like new for 2 years now. Truck is a "98 with 132K on it, has pulled a trailer almost daily since new and has plowed snow for 13 winters.

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